Dellebarre-Style Dutch Compound Microscope

The design for this style of microscope originated from Louis Dellebarre in the early 1770s. The microscope is part of the Royal Microscopical Society collection and has been reviewed in Gerard Turner's book The Great Age of the Microscope.

The square pillar, which contains brackets for the stage, mirror, bodytube, and condenser, is supported by a folding tripod foot with a locking screw. The mirror is concave and the condenser consists of a single lens that can be swung out of the optical axis. A joint securing the body to the pillar is flexible so that the body can be positioned in an inclined plane, and the hinged stage (which also inclines on the same bar as the body) has two holes for accessories and also contains several clips. The unusual body design is composed of ten sections including a dust-excluder, eye cup, and mounts for four lenses.